122 
NESTS AND EGGS OF 
later ; and in the country bordering on the Great Lakes, about the last of 
May or the beginning of June. In Iowa, and other Western States of the 
same latitude, from the fifteenth to the last of May. 
Upon its arrival in our Northern States, remarkable to say, unlike 
many of its numerous family connections, it seldom frequents the seashore, 
or the adjoining salt marshes, but manifests a predilection for the ponds, 
mill-dams, and deep muddy streams of the interior. The same is true of 
its more southern breeding-grounds along creeks and bayous of the land 
where the orange and palmetto charm the eye with perennial verdure. 
During the interval of time between the appearance of these birds 
and the renewal of their ancient vows at the accustomed trysting-place, 
the sexes consort together in ever-varying flocks of fours or more, but 
never in very large numbers, and fatten on acorns, the seeds of the wild 
oats, and such insects as they can procure from the tree-branches, or the 
muddy margins of the streams and ponds which they frequent. 
On each recurrence of the mating season, there is reason for believing 
that the same couple come together, and pledge anew the sincerity of their 
fidelity, and the constancy of their affection, unless debarred from so doing 
by death, or some other of the numerous vicissitudes to which life is prone. 
The troth-plight being sealed, the happy lovers are not slow in effect- 
ing a union. A few reciprocations of love, mutual and sympathetic, and 
the role is ended. But in cases where the male has lost his partner, 
doubtless more time is devoted to this important business. Much time is 
sjDent in seeking a suitable companion, and even when the seeker is suc- 
cessful in finding one which combines the necessary qualities, no little 
time is frittered away in rendering himself agreeable to her lady’s notions 
of what a husband should be, for she not unfrequently acts as if she were 
possessed of some taste and discrimination. 
Having settled this important business, the newly-mated couple start 
off in quest of a spot for the location of a home. In the case of old birds 
the same locality has been known to be visited for four successive years. 
